Immediate Family

About Peter "Van Daan" van Pels

Peter van Pels, born November 8, 1926 and died May 2, 1945. Peter was the son of Hermann and Auguste van Pels, and was one of the eight people in hiding in the “secret annex” in Amsterdam as written in the Diary of Anne Frank. Peter died in Mauthausen after a death march. Otto Frank had protected him during their period if imprisonment together, as the two men had been assigned to the same work group. Frank later stated that he had urged Peter to hide in Auschwitz and remain behind with him, rather than set out on the forced march, but Peter felt that he would have a better chance of survival if he joined the march. Mauthausen Concentration Camp records indicate that Peter van Pels was registered upon his arrival there on January 25, 1945. Four days later, he was placed in an outdoor labor group. On April 11, 1945, Peter was sent to sick barracks. His exact death is unknown, but the International Red Cross designated is as May 2, 1945. Mauthausen was liberated three days later on May 5, 1945, by 23 men from the 11th Armored Division of the US Third Army.